Boehringer Ingelheim Oxford, Connecticut, United States
Abstract Text: IL-11 is a pleiotropic cytokine recently implicated in fibrotic diseases of various vital organs. Neutralizing antibodies were developed to address the unmet medical need of several fibrosing diseases. Initial IL-11 assays lacked sufficient sensitivity to measure IL-11 in human serum/plasma. To address this lack of sensitivity, a novel ultrasensitive assay platform was developed the ultra-sensitive SP-X platform (Quanterix Corp). IL-11 levels were assessed in over 230 healthy donors and patient samples of several fibrosing disease indications. We were able to successfully detect IL-11 in more than 90% of our healthy donors in serum, plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid allowing us to discern a significant increase in soluble IL-11 levels in patients with multiple fibrosing diseases, which has hitherto been challenging due to lack of assay sensitivity. IL-11 has been implicated in various diseases, and the ability to measure this cytokine in more than 90% of healthy donors and > 80% of patients with diverse fibrotic diseases as a biomarker, is pivotal in understanding the underlying pathobiology options for targeted therapy.
